While the Years Passed By

Chapter Two: The Lord-Scion Scorpius Malfoy

September, 2124

Pale grey eyes regarded the attendees coolly, surveying the odd mixture of friend and foe attending his father's funeral. The death of Lord Malfoy, former Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot had drawn high ranking politicians and wizards from all walks of life, a number of families had even delayed the return of their children to Hogwarts in order to allow them to this gathering of the powerful there was only one conspicuous absence – the Boy-Who-Lived, although he was rarely seen in these days.

After the Second War his Scorpius' father had set about rebuilding the House of Malfoy, which had been no easy task. The name and much of the family fortune had been ruined, their political power shrivelled away.

It had come as a surprise to some of his father's acquaintances when Draco Malfoy had thrived in the face of this adversity and exhibited the political guile his family were renowned for. Frozen out of first Shacklebolt's and then Granger's Ministries Father had turned to the Wizengamot. Since Rufus Scrimgeour had declared a state of emergency much of the Wizengamot's power was given to the Minister for a 7-year term. As the Heir to House Malfoy Father had been groomed from birth for Wizarding politics and steeped in the traditions of the Wizengamot.

Dating to the age of the Founder's it was bound by powerful oaths and magics, as was the Ministry. The nature of these magics made it almost possible to reform or circumvent except for in the state of emergency. Which could only be declared with the consent of the Wizengamot. This branch of Wizarding government was largely held through hereditary family seats, although a third were life-appointments rewarding great achievements. The inheritance of a seat was a complex magical affair, being passed down to the eldest offspring of a previous holder.

To prevent a Lord or Lady from accumulating multiple seats over time a complex succession system was in place. A seat would pass to the oldest heir, regardless of gender, but if they married it remained their title and could not pass to their spouse. The titles would be passed to separate offspring, and if there were too few offspring the titles would continue to pass down that line passively, with the holder acting as head of the House but the heir only occupying one seat in the Wizengamot while the others remained vacant.

Three wars in eighty years had left many seats vacant or with underage heirs. If the previous holder had taken precautions it was held by a regent but if none had been appointed those seats also remained vacant. Of the sixty-six seats, twenty-two were filled by appointees during that period. Of the forty-four hereditary seats only twenty-five were filled.

Through a small amount of blackmail Draco Malfoy had ensured three of those were empty when the Ministers emergency powers expired and all the actions of the last seven years had to undergo Wizengamot approval. With less than forty-four members there was no voting quorum and Wizarding Britain was stuck in a legal and political limbo unable to appoint new members or play its role in government until Draco was ready to come forward and claim his seat.

After two weeks of inertia Minister Granger had grudgingly called him into her offices and demanded he take up his seat. Having forced his rivals to hand him power the young Lord Malfoy had entered that hallowed hall as a swing vote and the threat of retiring and returning Britain to its previous state.

This precarious position had existed for three years, with his father keeping a tight grip on power while slowly and obstinately conceding enough to the Minister to distract from his efforts to rebuild his ancestral fortune. Unlike the muggle world the Wizarding economy was quite unregulated. All taxes were payed through a sales tax and the Ministry had no financial records on the affairs of private witches or wizards. Towards the end of the third year his father had slipped up.

The Minister's husband was one Ronald Weasley, a member of the clan that had been feuding for almost four centuries. What had started with a broken betrothal contract had resulted in the death of fourteen Malfoys, including two sitting Lords of the name, nine Weasley dead and the loss of the Weasley family's title and Wizengamot seat. Additionally Ronald Weasley, who was incidentally the Lord-Scion Malfoy's father in law, had been a bitter rival of his father during their Hogwarts's years.

In 2008 Ronald Weasley had bought and managed the Chudley Cannons to a second spot league finish and Father had been unable to forget the old rivalry. When Draco Malfoy bought the Falmouth Falcons in 2009 to compete with Ron, Minister Granger had started investigating his return to prosperity.

To her disappointment she found nothing sufficient to ruin Scorpius' father, but did find some dealings in muggle finance that might cost the support of some of his more conservative allies. The Minister had attempted to blackmail the Lord Malfoy but instead a compromise was struck. Draco Malfoy conceded to the appointment of new Wizengamot appointees and the swearing in of several Lords that he had been blocking, chiefly Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom and Andromeda Tonks (whose seat had wanted for his mother). Perhaps most aggravating to the young Malfoy was the return of House Weasley to the Wizengamot in place of the extinct Lestrange family.

After it was refused by his brothers, Ronald Weasley had taken the Lordship and established himself as leader of a reformist faction which Draco had opposed with his own conservative faction dedicated to preserving the old traditions in the face of what the Minister called 'modernisation', although Lord Malfoy scathingly referred to it as 'mugglisation'.

Together with Lord Longbottom as the leader of a moderate faction they controlled the Wizengamot and waged a bitter war of words across that hallowed chamber. Though for his father and father in law Scorpius new it was almost as much an extension of their quidditch rivalry as it was a conflict of ideologies.

For a century this trio, dubbed the Lions of the Wizengamot much to Lord Malfoy's irritation, had ruled that chamber, although along the way the bitter animosity of school children had faded and one day developed into a more friendly rivalry. Both Scorpius and his wife Rose could remember the day their fathers had finally moved past their old arguments.

In the early days of the 2010s Minister Granger had attempted to ban the use of bludgers at Hogwarts, calling the practice cruel, unusual and barbaric. Draco Malfoy had come home in a rage and immediately flooed Lord Longbottom for a guarantee of support in the Wizengamot vote the next day. To his surprise Longbottom had refused leading to an angry tirade at the dinner table about wimps with broken wrists and fears of flying.

Scorpius' mother, the Lady Astoria had taken offence at the language her husband was using in front her son and his plan to block the vote which in her words "squandered both the political capital and bribe money of House Malfoy over a children's game" leading to the most heated argument his parents had had in his youth, ending with his father's temporary eviction from Malfoy Manor.

According to Rose Lord Weasley had returned almost concurrently from a Cannons training session and been informed by his wife. Ever a blunt man, Scorpius' father in law had simply stated that he would be voting against his wife's measure the next day which in turn had led to his temporary relocation to the Leaky Cauldron's accommodations. As it happened when the Lord Weasley arrived and demanded a drink in the private lounge he had found it occupied by one Lord Draco Malfoy who was rage-drinking his way through a bottle of fine (although muggle) Scotch.

Both men had proceeded to get exceedingly drunk and have their first cordial conversation, if a drunken rant about wives and the sanctity of quidditch qualified as such. After spending the night in their rented lodgings the two Lords had entered the Wizengamot sporting massive hangovers and proceeded to vote together the on the bill.

Astoria had forgiven Draco since he had not used the resources she had feared but Minister Granger was understandably not appeased and feeling some sympathy the Lord Malfoy had graciously offered him temporary accommodations. During a stay that lasted several weeks their relationship had thawed into a friendly, if often heated, rivalry and in their later years a fast friendship.

Although Ron's whereabouts during that period had stayed secret from his wife for over a decade, and Hermione Granger had never warmed to the Lord Malfoy, although she had gotten along with Scorpius in time.

Scorpius was jolted out of his reverie as he heard his que, "Thus we give final tribute to a friend and leader, a Lion of the Wizengamot and credit to House Malfoy." He gave the Lord Weasley a brief nod of thanks as he took his father in laws spot on the podium and prepared to deliver his eulogy.

Author's Note:

I enjoyed writing this one ad hope you enjoy reading it. With regards to the system of Wizarding government and canon, I only consider the seven original books as canon although I may still use other sources and fan's work, just not over canon unless I have a good reason and will explain that in my notes. I'll keep notes with regards to that slim here because it forms a large part of the plot for my related fic "Salaszar Slytherin and the First Wizengamot" although the companion/guide piece to the series will updated alongside that fic.

I hope you don't find anyone to out of character, although showing how characters changed and lead their adult lives is kind of the point here. Specifically I figured I'd explain Hermione and the bludgers. If you think about it from our perspective they are fairly dangerous and I figure Hermione would see that the same way. I'm sure we can all agree Ron would not support any changes to the game.

Please read & review!